God's War on Terror: Islam, Prophecy and the Bible

by Walid Shoebat

  DESTRUCTION OF MOAB BY CHRIST (ISAIAH 25)

  Moab, like Egypt, is destroyed by Messiah Himself; “And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation. For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under Him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill.” (Isaiah 25:9-10)

  Moab is trodden down under the foot of the Messiah. While the Messiah’s hand of blessing is resting on the head of Zion, His foot is on the neck of Moab, as He pushes his head into the dung.

  The comment that I frequently hear is that Islam will be destroyed several years prior to the coming of Christ. Most prophecy teachers argue that this will set the stage for the European Antichrist and the Battle of Armageddon.

  My response is that, in every passage investigated thus far, Christ personally fights nations that are all Muslim. In the last passage (Isaiah 25:9-10) at the time of his return, we have Christ fighting Moab. Why do you think God is always placing emphasis on the Muslim nations? Where are all of these European nations that He will allegedly fight?

  Isaiah 25 is the reconciliation between Israel and her Messiah. Yet within this setting Moab is destroyed. Instead of Moab destroying Israel, God will spare His people from the wrath to come. “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the LORD cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain” (Isaiah 26:20-21).

  ANTICHRIST JUDGED

  “I In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea” (Isaiah 27:1). This is judgment of Antichrist, the dragon, the snake, the leviathan—the Devil. But the destruction of the Antichrist is spoken of all within the context of the remnant of Muslim nations repenting: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the Holy Mount at Jerusalem” (Isaiah 27:13).

  The nations are finally freed from the grip of Islam and its Antichrist-Mahdi. The remnant of Islamic Assyria and Egypt will come to worship the Lord, not in Mecca, but in Jerusalem! They are no longer Muslim, but like myself, they are ex-Muslim believers in Christ—speaking much better Hebrew, of course.

  THE COVENANT WITH DEATH (ISAIAH 28)

  The covenant with death as described in Isaiah 28 is of a dual meaning. The first is the story of mankind entering a covenant with death in the garden. When Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden tree, humanity, in essence, signed a covenant with death. This covenant was initiated by Satan; but through sacrificial offering, God provided a way out.

  Likewise, Antichrist, the devil will initiate a false covenant and divide Israel for gain: “Your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand. When the overflowing scourge passes through, Then you will be trampled by it” (Isaiah 28:18).

  Throughout the Prophecy of Isaiah, God repeatedly warns His people never to trust in political alliances, but to trust in Him alone. But like the situation in Isaiah’s day, so also will be the Last-Days. Israel will rely on political alliances, peace treaties, and promises of “peace and security.” The Bible says that Israel will willingly accept the peace-treaty made with the Antichrist who “will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven’” (Daniel 9:27).

  But then this Assyrian-Antichrist will renege on his agreements and will invade the land: “that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel” (Ezekiel 38:8).

  We can see Israel’s prime minister and x-mayor of Jerusalem Ehud Olmert attempting to make peace deals. But the Bible warns: “You scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem. You boast, ‘We have entered into a covenant with death, with the grave we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.’…Your covenant with death will be annulled; your agreement with the grave will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by, you will be beaten down by it.” (Isaiah 28:14-18)

  The Assyrian will strike them down until finally the remnant of Israel will turn back to God and repent for trusting in false promises made with the surrounding nations.

  This will ultimately happen when the remnant of Israel says “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” as Jesus prophesied in Matthew 23:39. In other words, the remnant of Israel will come to realize that indeed the child, the Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace—Jesus the Messiah—is their only hope.

  CHRIST’S INTERVENTION (ISAIAH 29-30)

  Here in Isaiah 29-30, we have the account of Messiah finally defeating Islam. This account parallels the war of King David with the Philistines: “For the Lord will rise up as at Mount Perazim, He will be angry as in the Valley of Gibeon—That He may do His work, His awesome work, and bring to pass His act, His unusual act.” (Isaiah 28:21) Delusions, starvation, and thirst will hit all the enemies that encamp against Israel: “as when a hungry man dreams that he is eating, but he awakens, and his hunger remains; as when a thirsty man dreams that he is drinking, but he awakens faint, with his thirst unquenched. So will it be with the hordes of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion.” (Isaiah 29:8) I have stated it for many years that food prices and food shortages will be a major problem in Muslim nations, and this phenomenon will only increase.

  This defeat of the enemies will be a mercy. That which is bad will be turned into good for the Jewish people. As the Holocaust was evil, from that darkness, Israel was born. 9/11 was a wakeup call, at least for a short while. Pearl Harbor awoke America to Japan’s threat. Sin and evil are like manure, it first smells, yet the sun shines over it, it dries, and in the end it helps the increase of fruit. Nothing Satan does will ever work—he urged the crowd to crucify the Lord, but the evil he intended, Christ’s crucifixion, broke the veil, so that, what Satan began in the garden, failed. The only thing that remains now is for the Messiah to crush Satan.

  At times, as Christians we need to see through God’s lens. For what appears as peace is often a curse. Peace with Hitler was a curse; Chamberlain went to Hitler and then declared: “Peace in our times!” Yet there was no peace—only deceit. Churchill was right—war was the solution. Yet he was accused of being a warmonger. There is a time for peace, but there is also a time for war. The day will come when there will be a true war to end all wars. Without the final war of the Messiah against wicked nations, the entire Bible story would be a story of injustice. When the meek of the earth turn the other cheek, they are deferring justice and their cause to the Lord. Unless God Himself eventually comes down and literally vindicates and executes justice then all cheek-turning is meaningless and unjust. Justice requires that Jesus eventually wage war on behalf of His people. There is a time for war! Israel has had its share of peace treaties, yet not one has brought peace. But Israel continues to offer mercy to the nations that continually attack her. These peace treaties are all the same, as Chamberlain went to Hitler, Israel will go down to Egypt seeking peace from Pharaoh: “That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion” (Isaiah 30:1-2).

  Israel’s peace with Egypt is a farce. Israel gave up the Sinai for a peace that only brought them explosives smuggled via Egypt into Gaza. And there will be future false peace deals with Egypt as well. And their results will be equally fruitless.

  In Isaiah, Jerusalem is mentioned in this list
of nations that are judged as well. However, it is important to distinguish the difference between God’s chastisement and God’s judgment. God chastises those he loves, but punishes his enemies. The Muslim nations are all marked for a severe judgment, while Jerusalem is marked for God’s equally severe correction. The final portion of Isaiah 10 tells us of the ultimate results and good news that come from God’s chastisement of Israel: “The remnant of Israel, the survivors of the house of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel. A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God” (Isaiah 10:20-21).

  Despite having trusted in the Antichrist’s false promises, Israel will rely on their Messiah who will “reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of Jehovah Almighty will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:9).

  58

  Literal References For Satan And The Muslim Nations Thrown Into Hell

  FROM EZEKIEL 28-32

  Westerners mostly track Antichrist in the Book of Revelation, but they rarely do an inductive analysis of the literal names of nations he leads with him in battle against Israel, and in the end he is judged and is thrown into hell (the pit). Ezekiel 28-32 are perhaps the best chapters of the most amazing of all literal references to these Muslim nations that suffer in this judgment along with the Mahdi-Antichrist. These Muslim nations are not destroyed prior to the Battle of Armageddon as Western teachers often claim. They do not usher in the rise of Antichrist. They are with him.

  To anyone who loves Bible Prophecy, Ezekiel 28-32 includes the Antichrist with the names of his army of nations cast into hell (Revelation 19:20-21), his fall as an angel and his pride and declaration to be God: “Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God.” (Ezekiel 28:6) exactly as Paul described Antichrist: “the son of perdition, Who opposes and exalted himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped.” (II Thessalonians 2:1)

  God provides a mix of nicknames for Antichrist. In the prophecy of Isaiah, the Antichrist was called the Assyrian, but here in Ezekiel, he is called the King of Tyre (King of Lebanon). The first hint that the passage is speaking about Satan dwelling in the body of the Antichrist and thus proving that Ezekiel 28 is not strictly an historical reference to an historical figure, for how else is this “King of Tyre” in “Eden the garden of God” and is called “The guardian Cherub” (guardian angel).

  “Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus Says the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God.” (Ezekiel 28:12)

  When was the King of Tyre ever in “Eden, the garden of God?” But Satan was certainly there. He was the angel of light:

  “You were anointed as a guardian cherub (angel), for so I ordained you. You were on the Holy Mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until wickedness was found in you” (Ezekiel 28:14, 15).

  This passage is clearly speaking of someone other than a mere historical king. The anointed cherub who once walked on “the Holy Mountain of God” and among the “fiery stones” is the rebellious angel, none other than the Devil himself. “By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: So I drove you in disgrace from the Mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones” (Ezekiel 28:16).

  Who else was driven in disgrace out of the presence of God in Heaven other than Satan? And what merchandise is this rebellious angel selling? The father of lies is peddling a false religion that promotes violence—“they have filled the midst of thee with violence.”

  Yet as Ezekiel makes clear, despite the Antichrist’s self-exaltation, he will be severely rebuked by the Lord: “Wilt thou yet say before Him that slays thee, I am God? But thou shall be a man, and no God, in the hand of Him that slay thee” (Ezekiel 28:9).

  The context of Ezekiel 28 includes Israel in End-Times:

  “Thus says the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am Jehovah their God” (Ezekiel 28:25).

  Obviously, Israel has been re-gathered as a nation. Even the production of fruit; Israel today produces an abundance of fruit from her vineyards to satisfy the needs of many countries: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, dates, and of course, Jaffa oranges.

  When we recognize the fact that Ezekiel 28 is about the Antichrist and his dealings with Israel after she has been re-gathered as a nation, we can easily see that this passage is yet another end-time prophecy.

  Antichrist is finally cast “into the pit”:

  “Thus says the Lord GOD; in the day when he went down to the grave I caused mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him. I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth. They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen. To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? Yet shall thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the depths of the earth: thou shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord GOD” (Ezekiel 31:15–18).

  This is a parallel to Satan in Isaiah 14: “But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit. Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble, the man who made the world a desert, who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?” (Isaiah 14:15-17)

  Satan, the man (Antichrist) is brought down “to the pit”: “They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shall die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas” (Ezekiel 28:8). “In the midst of the seas” (a symbolic term used to refer to the nations), shall the Antichrist be killed and thrown to the pit.

  THE MUSLIM NATIONS CAST INTO THE PIT OF HELL

  The specific nations mentioned for judgment alongside the Antichrist are listed below in order. Because ancient boundaries have changed, there is some overlap and some nations are repeated.

  LEBANON

  The context of Ezekiel 28 is definitely End-Time—no longer will Israel’s neighbors be painful briers or thorns in her side. The rockets launched from Lebanon to prick Israel daily will finally cease forever.

  “The word of Jehovah came to me: Son of man, set your face against Sidon (Lebanon); prophesy against her and say: ‘This is what the Lord God says:’ I am against you, O Sidon, and I will be glorified in the midst of thee. They will know that I am Jehovah, when they have executed judgments in the midst of her and show myself holy in her midst. I will send a plague upon her and make blood flow in her streets. The slain will fall within her, with the sword against her on every side. Then they will know that I am Jehovah. No longer will the people of Israel have malicious neighbors who are painful briers and sharp thorns. Then they will know that I am the Lord God” (Ezekiel 28:20-24).

  EGYPT

  Antichrist is also called “Pharaoh King of Egypt” (Ezekiel 29:3) and like Ezekiel 28 there can be no doubt that this is Satan, “great monster who lies in the midst of the ri
vers.” (Ezekiel 29:2) It is possible that “my river is mine” (v. 3) is concerning blocking Israel from the Strait of Tiran. This is nothing new; I personally witnessed the war of 1967. On May 18, Egypt’s president, Gamal Abdul Nasser, demanded the withdrawal of UN forces from Gaza and Sinai; Secretary General Thant promptly acceded and removed the UNEF. Four days later, Nasser announced a blockade of Israeli shipping at the Strait of Tiran, an action that Israel has stressed since the 1956 War would be tantamount to a declaration of war. Jordan and Iraq rapidly joined Syria in its military alliance with Egypt.4

  Ezekiel 29 concludes the destruction of Egypt “Egypt will become a desolate wasteland. Then they will know that I am Jehovah” (Ezekiel 29:9). Ezekiel 30 gives even more detail: “For the day is near, the day of Jehovah is near—a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations. A sword will come against Egypt, and anguish will come upon Cush. When the slain fall in Egypt, her wealth will be carried away and her foundations torn down” (Ezekiel 30:3-4) They will even become slaves for Israel: “The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush, And of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you, and they shall be yours” (Isaiah 45:14).

  EGYPT, SUDAN, LIBYA, TURKEY AND ARABIA